How do we develop civic-minded graduates?
Kristin Norris, Interim Assessment Specialist, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis [norriske@iupui.edu]
Summary
Higher education institutions are being asked to produce students who possess civic knowledge, skills, and dispositions. First, we need to better understand how one becomes civic-minded. This poster presentation will share results from a recent study that assessed the extent to which certain factors contribute to student development of civic-mindedness.
The purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which certain factors (service learning and reflection, dialogue across perceived difference, prior experiences, and student-faculty interactions) contribute to student development of civic-mindedness. Particular attention was given to student-faculty interactions due to the overwhelming evidence that student-faculty interactions are vital to student success (see references).
There is no widely accepted scholarly definition of civic engagement, although many attempts have been made to rectify the different definitions (Bringle, Hatcher, & Holland, 2007; Finley, 2011; Howard, 2011). Often, the following terms are used interchangeably: civic engagement, democratic participation, citizenship, and community engagement. Despite all of these terms, the overall research on faculty behaviors and institutional characteristics demonstrates an impact on student engagement and learning, which reinforces the importance of conveying the campus mission (Astin 1993; Chickering 1969; and Chickering & Reisser, 1993).
Conceptualizing civic learning is difficult because we lack agreement of what it means to be a good citizen who is effectively engaged in democratic society even though scholars have attempted to find consensus around this (Cunningham, 2006; Howard, 2001; Saltmarsh, 2005). Generally speaking, civic learning consists of knowledge, skills, and dispositions and is the basis for much of the research on civic engagement activities designed to produce civic learning.
This study is important because we need to graduate people who are civic-minded. By increasing our understanding of how to develop civic-mindedness through identifying contributing factors, we can better understand how faculty and mentoring plays a role in student development of civic-mindedness. This will then allow us to be more intentional and strategic in faculty development efforts and program design.
References
Antonio, A. L., Astin, A. W., & Cress, C.M. (2000). Community service in higher education: A look at the nation’s faculty. The Review of Higher Education, 23(4), 373-398.
Association of American Colleges and Universities. (2007). College learning for the new global century: A report from the National Leadership Council for Liberal Education and America’s Promise. Washington, D.C.: Association of American Colleges and Universities.
Astin, A. W. (1984). Student involvement: A developmental theory for higher education. Journal of College Student Personnel, 25, 297-308.
Astin, A. W. (1993). What matters in college: Four critical years revisited. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Astin, A.W. & Sax, L. J. (1998). How undergraduates are affected by service participation. Journal of College Student Development, 39, 3, 251-263.
Astin, A.W., Vogelgesang, L., Ikeda, E., & Yee, J. (2000). How service-learning affects students. Los Angeles, CA: University of California, Higher Education Research Institute.
Bandura, A. (1977). Social learning theory. New York: General Learning Press.
Battistoni R. M. (1997). Service learning and democratic citizenship. Theory into practice, 36(3) 150-156.
Battistoni, R. (1997). Service learning as civic learning: Lessons we can learn from our students. In J. Cammarano & G. Reeher (Eds.), Education for citizenship: Ideas and innovations in political learning (pp. 31-49). Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.
Battistoni, R., & Longo, N. (2005). Connecting workforce development and civic engagement: Higher education as public good and private gain. Lynn, MA: North Shore Community College Policy Institute.
Berscheid, E., Snyder, M., & Omoto, A.M. (1989). The relationship closeness inventory: Assessing the closeness of interpersonal relationships. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 57, 792-807.
Blackburn, R. T., & Lawrence, J. H. (1995). Faculty at work: Motivation, expectation, satisfaction. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University.
Bowen, H. R. (1977). Investment in learning: The individual and social value of American higher education. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Boyte, H. (2008). Against the current: Developing the civic agency of students. Change, 40(3), 8-15.
Bringle, R.G. & Hatcher, J. A. (1996). Implementing service learning in higher education. Journal of Higher Education, 67(2), 221-239.
Bringle, R.G. & Hatcher, J.A. (2000). Institutionalization of service learning in higher education. Journal of Higher Education, 71, 273-290.
Chickering, A. W. & Reisser, L. (1993). Education and identity (2nd ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Colby, A., Beaumont, E., Ehrlich, T., & Corngold, J. (1996). Educating for democracy: Preparing undergraduates for responsible political engagement. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Colby, A., Ehrlich, T., Beaumont, E., & Stephens, J. (2003). Educating citizens: Preparing America’s undergraduates for lives of moral and civic responsibility. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Daloz, L., Keen, C., Keen, J., & Parks, S. (1996). Common fire: Lives of commitment in a complex world. Boston, MA: Beacon Press.
Endo, J. J. & Harpel, R. L. (1982). The effect of student-faculty interactions on students’ educational outcomes. Research in Higher Education, 16, 2, 115-138.
Ewell, P. & Jones, D. (1996). Indicators of “good practice” in undergraduate education: A handbook for development and implementation. Boulder, CO: National Center for Higher Education Management Systems.
Eyler, J. & Giles, Jr., D. (1999). Where’s the learning in service-learning? San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Fairweather, J. S. (1996). Faculty work and public trust: Restoring the value of teaching and public service in American academic life. Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
Finley, A. (2011). Civic learning and democratic engagements: A review of the literature on civic engagement in post-secondary education. Paper prepared for the US Department of Education as part of Contract: ED-OPE-10_C-0078. Retrieved from www.civiclearning.org/SupportDocs/LiteratureReview_CivicEngagement_Finley_Jul2011.pdf.
Giles, D.E. & Eyler, J. (1994). The impact of college community service laboratory on students’ personal, social, and cognitive outcomes. Journal of Adolescence, 17, 327-339.
Gray, M.J., Ondaatje, E.H., Fricker, R., Geschwind, S., Goldman, C.A., Kaganoff, T., Robyn, A., Sundt, M., Vogelgesang, L., & Klein, S.P. (1998). Coupling service and learning in higher education: The final report of the evaluation of the Learn and Serve America, Higher Education Program. Santa Monica, CA: The RAND Corporation.
Hatcher, J.A. (2008). The public role of professionals: Developing and evaluating the Civic-Minded Professional scale. (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from Pro Quest Dissertation and Theses, AAT 3331248.
Howard, J. (2001). Service learning course design workbook. Ann Arbor, MI: Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning, University of Michigan.
Jacoby, B. (2009). Securing the future of civic engagement in higher education. In B. Jacoby (Ed.), Civic engagement in higher education: Concepts and practices (pp. 227-248). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Keen, C. & Hall, K. (2008). Engaging with difference matters: Longitudinal college outcomes of co-curricular service-learning programs. Journal of Higher Education, 80(1), 59-79.
Keen, C. & Hall, K. (2008). Post-graduation service and civic outcomes for high financial need students of a multi-campus, co-curricular service-learning college program. Journal of College & Character, X, 2, 1-11.
Keen, C. (2009). New efforts to assess civic outcomes. Journal of College Character, 10(7), 1-6.
Knefelkamp, L.L. (2008). Civic identity: Locating self in community. Diversity & Democracy: Civic Learning for Shared Futures, 11(2), 1-3.
Kuh, G., Kinzie, J., Schuh, J., & Whitt, E.J. (2005). Student success in college: Creating conditions that matter. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Kuh, G., Chen, D., Nelson Laird, T.F. (2007). Why teacher-scholars matter: Some insights from FSSE and NSSE. Liberal Education, 93(40), 40-45.
Kuh, G., Nelson Laird, T.F., & Umbach, P.D. (2004). Aligning faculty activities and student behavior: Realizing the promise of Greater Expectations. Liberal Education, 90 (4), 24-31.
Kuh, G. (2008). High-impact educational practices: What they are, who has access to them, and why they matter. Washington, D.C.: Association of American Colleges and Universities.
Morton, K. (1997, Spring). Campus and community at Providence College. In Expanding boundaries: Building civic responsibility within higher education (pp. 8-11). Washington, DC: Corporation for National Service.
Musil, K. (1997, Spring). Educating students for personal and social responsibility: The civic learning spiral. In B. Jacoby and Associates (Eds.), Civic engagement in higher education: Concepts and practices (pp. 49-68). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Pascarella, E. & Terenzini, P. (1991). How college affects students: Findings and insights from twenty years of research. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Pascarella, E.T. & Terenzini, P. (2005). How college affects students. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Perry, W. G. (1970). Forms of intellectual and ethical development in the college years. New York, NY: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston.
Saltmarsh, J. (2005). The civic promise of service learning. Liberal Education and the New Academy, 91(2), 50-55.
Steinberg, K., Hatcher, J. A., & Bringle, R. G. (2011). A north star: Civic-minded graduate. Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning, 18(1), 19-33.
Tinto, V. (1993). Leaving college: Rethinking the causes and cures of student attrition (2nd ed.). Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
Tinto, V. (2000). Linking learning and leaving: Exploring the role of the college classroom in student departure. In J. M. Braxton (ed.) Reworking the student departure puzzle (pp. 81-94). Nashville, TN: Vanderbilt University Press.
Umbach, P.D. & Wawrzynski, M.R. (2005). Faculty do matter: The role of college faculty in student learning and engagement. Research in Higher Education, 46(20), 153-184.
Walt Whitman Center. (1996). Measuring citizenship: Assessing the impact of service learning on America’s youth. New Brunswick, Canada: Walt Whitman Center, Rutgers University.
To access materials from this session please click on the file link(s) below:
How do we develop civic-minded graduates?
Kristin Norris, Interim Assessment Specialist, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis [norriske@iupui.edu]
Keywords: Student-faculty interactions, civic-mindedness, pedagogy, student development, quantitative
Conference Track: Higher education student outcomes
Format: Poster presentation
Summary
Higher education institutions are being asked to produce students who possess civic knowledge, skills, and dispositions. First, we need to better understand how one becomes civic-minded. This poster presentation will share results from a recent study that assessed the extent to which certain factors contribute to student development of civic-mindedness.
The purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which certain factors (service learning and reflection, dialogue across perceived difference, prior experiences, and student-faculty interactions) contribute to student development of civic-mindedness. Particular attention was given to student-faculty interactions due to the overwhelming evidence that student-faculty interactions are vital to student success (see references).
There is no widely accepted scholarly definition of civic engagement, although many attempts have been made to rectify the different definitions (Bringle, Hatcher, & Holland, 2007; Finley, 2011; Howard, 2011). Often, the following terms are used interchangeably: civic engagement, democratic participation, citizenship, and community engagement. Despite all of these terms, the overall research on faculty behaviors and institutional characteristics demonstrates an impact on student engagement and learning, which reinforces the importance of conveying the campus mission (Astin 1993; Chickering 1969; and Chickering & Reisser, 1993).
Conceptualizing civic learning is difficult because we lack agreement of what it means to be a good citizen who is effectively engaged in democratic society even though scholars have attempted to find consensus around this (Cunningham, 2006; Howard, 2001; Saltmarsh, 2005). Generally speaking, civic learning consists of knowledge, skills, and dispositions and is the basis for much of the research on civic engagement activities designed to produce civic learning.
This study is important because we need to graduate people who are civic-minded. By increasing our understanding of how to develop civic-mindedness through identifying contributing factors, we can better understand how faculty and mentoring plays a role in student development of civic-mindedness. This will then allow us to be more intentional and strategic in faculty development efforts and program design.
References
Antonio, A. L., Astin, A. W., & Cress, C.M. (2000). Community service in higher education: A look at the nation’s faculty. The Review of Higher Education, 23(4), 373-398.
Association of American Colleges and Universities. (2007). College learning for the new global century: A report from the National Leadership Council for Liberal Education and America’s Promise. Washington, D.C.: Association of American Colleges and Universities.
Astin, A. W. (1984). Student involvement: A developmental theory for higher education. Journal of College Student Personnel, 25, 297-308.
Astin, A. W. (1993). What matters in college: Four critical years revisited. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Astin, A.W. & Sax, L. J. (1998). How undergraduates are affected by service participation. Journal of College Student Development, 39, 3, 251-263.
Astin, A.W., Vogelgesang, L., Ikeda, E., & Yee, J. (2000). How service-learning affects students. Los Angeles, CA: University of California, Higher Education Research Institute.
Bandura, A. (1977). Social learning theory. New York: General Learning Press.
Battistoni R. M. (1997). Service learning and democratic citizenship. Theory into practice, 36(3) 150-156.
Battistoni, R. (1997). Service learning as civic learning: Lessons we can learn from our students. In J. Cammarano & G. Reeher (Eds.), Education for citizenship: Ideas and innovations in political learning (pp. 31-49). Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield.
Battistoni, R., & Longo, N. (2005). Connecting workforce development and civic engagement: Higher education as public good and private gain. Lynn, MA: North Shore Community College Policy Institute.
Berscheid, E., Snyder, M., & Omoto, A.M. (1989). The relationship closeness inventory: Assessing the closeness of interpersonal relationships. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 57, 792-807.
Blackburn, R. T., & Lawrence, J. H. (1995). Faculty at work: Motivation, expectation, satisfaction. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University.
Bowen, H. R. (1977). Investment in learning: The individual and social value of American higher education. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Boyte, H. (2008). Against the current: Developing the civic agency of students. Change, 40(3), 8-15.
Bringle, R.G. & Hatcher, J. A. (1996). Implementing service learning in higher education. Journal of Higher Education, 67(2), 221-239.
Bringle, R.G. & Hatcher, J.A. (2000). Institutionalization of service learning in higher education. Journal of Higher Education, 71, 273-290.
Chickering, A. W. & Reisser, L. (1993). Education and identity (2nd ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Colby, A., Beaumont, E., Ehrlich, T., & Corngold, J. (1996). Educating for democracy: Preparing undergraduates for responsible political engagement. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Colby, A., Ehrlich, T., Beaumont, E., & Stephens, J. (2003). Educating citizens: Preparing America’s undergraduates for lives of moral and civic responsibility. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Cunningham, A. (2006). The Broader Societal Benefits of Higher Education. Retrieved from http://www.solutionsforourfuture.org/site/DocServer/07.Social-Benefits.pdf?docID=102.
Daloz, L., Keen, C., Keen, J., & Parks, S. (1996). Common fire: Lives of commitment in a complex world. Boston, MA: Beacon Press.
Endo, J. J. & Harpel, R. L. (1982). The effect of student-faculty interactions on students’ educational outcomes. Research in Higher Education, 16, 2, 115-138.
Ewell, P. & Jones, D. (1996). Indicators of “good practice” in undergraduate education: A handbook for development and implementation. Boulder, CO: National Center for Higher Education Management Systems.
Eyler, J. & Giles, Jr., D. (1999). Where’s the learning in service-learning? San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Fairweather, J. S. (1996). Faculty work and public trust: Restoring the value of teaching and public service in American academic life. Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
Finley, A. (2011). Civic learning and democratic engagements: A review of the literature on civic engagement in post-secondary education. Paper prepared for the US Department of Education as part of Contract: ED-OPE-10_C-0078. Retrieved from www.civiclearning.org/SupportDocs/LiteratureReview_CivicEngagement_Finley_Jul2011.pdf.
Giles, D.E. & Eyler, J. (1994). The impact of college community service laboratory on students’ personal, social, and cognitive outcomes. Journal of Adolescence, 17, 327-339.
Gray, M.J., Ondaatje, E.H., Fricker, R., Geschwind, S., Goldman, C.A., Kaganoff, T., Robyn, A., Sundt, M., Vogelgesang, L., & Klein, S.P. (1998). Coupling service and learning in higher education: The final report of the evaluation of the Learn and Serve America, Higher Education Program. Santa Monica, CA: The RAND Corporation.
Hatcher, J.A. (2008). The public role of professionals: Developing and evaluating the Civic-Minded Professional scale. (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from Pro Quest Dissertation and Theses, AAT 3331248.
Howard, J. (2001). Service learning course design workbook. Ann Arbor, MI: Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning, University of Michigan.
Jacoby, B. (2009). Securing the future of civic engagement in higher education. In B. Jacoby (Ed.), Civic engagement in higher education: Concepts and practices (pp. 227-248). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Keen, C. & Hall, K. (2008). Engaging with difference matters: Longitudinal college outcomes of co-curricular service-learning programs. Journal of Higher Education, 80(1), 59-79.
Keen, C. & Hall, K. (2008). Post-graduation service and civic outcomes for high financial need students of a multi-campus, co-curricular service-learning college program. Journal of College & Character, X, 2, 1-11.
Keen, C. (2009). New efforts to assess civic outcomes. Journal of College Character, 10(7), 1-6.
Knefelkamp, L.L. (2008). Civic identity: Locating self in community. Diversity & Democracy: Civic Learning for Shared Futures, 11(2), 1-3.
Kuh, G., Kinzie, J., Schuh, J., & Whitt, E.J. (2005). Student success in college: Creating conditions that matter. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Kuh, G., Chen, D., Nelson Laird, T.F. (2007). Why teacher-scholars matter: Some insights from FSSE and NSSE. Liberal Education, 93(40), 40-45.
Kuh, G., Nelson Laird, T.F., & Umbach, P.D. (2004). Aligning faculty activities and student behavior: Realizing the promise of Greater Expectations. Liberal Education, 90 (4), 24-31.
Kuh, G. (2008). High-impact educational practices: What they are, who has access to them, and why they matter. Washington, D.C.: Association of American Colleges and Universities.
Morton, K. (1997, Spring). Campus and community at Providence College. In Expanding boundaries: Building civic responsibility within higher education (pp. 8-11). Washington, DC: Corporation for National Service.
Musil, K. (1997, Spring). Educating students for personal and social responsibility: The civic learning spiral. In B. Jacoby and Associates (Eds.), Civic engagement in higher education: Concepts and practices (pp. 49-68). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Pascarella, E. & Terenzini, P. (1991). How college affects students: Findings and insights from twenty years of research. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Pascarella, E.T. & Terenzini, P. (2005). How college affects students. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Perry, W. G. (1970). Forms of intellectual and ethical development in the college years. New York, NY: Holt, Rinehart, and Winston.
Saltmarsh, J. (2005). The civic promise of service learning. Liberal Education and the New Academy, 91(2), 50-55.
Steinberg, K., Hatcher, J. A., & Bringle, R. G. (2011). A north star: Civic-minded graduate. Michigan Journal of Community Service Learning, 18(1), 19-33.
Tinto, V. (1993). Leaving college: Rethinking the causes and cures of student attrition (2nd ed.). Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
Tinto, V. (2000). Linking learning and leaving: Exploring the role of the college classroom in student departure. In J. M. Braxton (ed.) Reworking the student departure puzzle (pp. 81-94). Nashville, TN: Vanderbilt University Press.
Umbach, P.D. & Wawrzynski, M.R. (2005). Faculty do matter: The role of college faculty in student learning and engagement. Research in Higher Education, 46(20), 153-184.
Walt Whitman Center. (1996). Measuring citizenship: Assessing the impact of service learning on America’s youth. New Brunswick, Canada: Walt Whitman Center, Rutgers University.
To access materials from this session please click on the file link(s) below: